In a bizarre incident, a 34-year-old man hailing from Tamil Nadu’s Theni district reportedly ran out naked from his house on March 27 (Friday) night and killed a 90-year-old woman by biting her throat. According to a Times of India report, the textile trader had become “mentally disturbed” after being home quarantined on returning from Sri Lanka a week ago to arrest the spread of Coronavirus.
Late on Friday, the man ran out naked from his house and bit the old woman, named Natchiammal, who was sleeping outside his house. Hearing the woman wailing in pain, the neighbours came out of their houses and got hold of the man and handed him over to the police.
The woman was rushed to the Theni government hospital, where she succumbed to her injury.
In another such bizarre incident, a 38-year-old man allegedly committed suicide at Thavanur near Kunnamkulam, Kerala on March 27 (Friday) after he failed to get liquor during the countrywide lockdown.
According to the reports, the deceased has been identified as Sanoj, a native of Thuvanoor in Kunnamkulam. The relatives of the deceased said that he was upset for the past two days following the non-availability of alcohol.
Sanoj, who worked as a painting worker was found hanging in his room in his house on Friday morning.
The Liquor outlets in the southern states have been closed till April 14 as part of the 21-day lockdown across the country put in place to ensure social distancing to check the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Modi addressed the country for the second time regarding the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic on the 24th of March. The most important announcement made by the Prime Minister during his address was the declaration of a national lockdown. From the midnight of the intervening night between the 24th of March and the 25th, a national lockdown was imposed across the country to prevent the virus from spreading any further.
The national lockdown had been announced for twenty-one days. The Prime Minister said that according to health experts, 21 days are essential to break the cycle of transmission of the Coronavirus.
In India, the number of Coronavirus cases has reached a total of 906 with 20 deaths as of 1.35 pm, March 28 (Saturday).
With India entering a crucial phase in its fight against the Wuhan Coronavirus, the Indian Railways came up with a remarkably ingenious solution to support the country’s public health system. It has decided to convert its coaches into quarantine wards for the treatment of Coronavirus, (also known as COVID-19) patients.
Furthermore, the Indian Railways has also offered to prepare 3 lakh patient beds if the need arises in future.
#CoronaUpdate | Isolation coaches have been prepared by the Indian Railways to fight the #coronavirus pandemic.
The nation-wide #lockdown to help curb the spread of novel coronavirus entered day 6 on Saturday.
According to North Central Railway (NCR) General Manager Rajiv Chaudhary, a train coach at the coaching depot in New Delhi has been converted by the Railways into isolation wards in consultation with medical professionals. “A sleeper coach of a train is being transformed and improvised into isolation wards for patients suffering from Covid-19. Such measures will help us in keeping ourselves ahead of the curve in combating the novel coronavirus,” he said.
In addition, all Railway divisions have identified a ward or building for setting up isolation beds for Covid-19 patients. Similarly, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is fleshing out a plan to provide meals in different parts of the country and hospitals if the need arises. Pantry cars will be disinfected and converted into the mobile kitchen so as to ensure a healthy and adequate supply of food at stations where there are no base kitchens.
Following the total lockdown announced by PM Modi, passenger train services have been completely suspended across the country. Instead of letting trains idling at the railway yards, the idea to have them transformed into quarantine facility was first discussed with the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal with the Chairman of Railway Board, Vijay Kumar Yadav, General Managers of all the zones and Division Railway Managers over video conferencing. PM Modi was also consulted over this idea before proceeding to convert railway coaches as isolation wards.
Chairman of Railway Board, Vijay Kumar Yadav had then said, “Railways coaches and cabins can be converted into makeshift hospitals on the wheels, equipped with consultation rooms, medical stores, ICU and pantry. These coaches can be sent to those parts of the country which are witnessing an uncontrollable rise in the number of coronavirus cases. As per WHO, India has just 0.7 beds per 1000 people. While it has targeted to increase it to two beds per 1000 people but the WHO mandated at least 3 beds per 1000 people in the country.”
Due to overwhelming misinformation on social media, Iranian citizens resorted to consuming spurious alcohol in a bid to cure the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus infection. Indiscriminate drinking accompanied by methanol poisoning has made a 1000 people sick in Iran and has claimed 300 lives. Another report claimed that as many as 480 people could have died due to this and over 2850 people could have fallen sick.
Iranian media reports nearly 300 people have been killed and more than 1,000 sickened by ingesting toxic methanol across the Islamic Republic out of the false belief it kills the new coronavirus. https://t.co/tUjo8TI0aP
The misinformation stemmed from a tabloid story published in early February which claimed that a British man cured himself of Coronavirus infection by drinking whiskey with honey. Many believe that using alcohol-based sanitizer to ward off germs is akin to drinking alcohol to cure Coronavirus infection.
Health Ministry Adviser Dr Hossein Hassanian said, “Other countries have only one problem, which is the new coronavirus pandemic. But we are fighting on two fronts here. We have to both cure the people with alcohol poisoning and also fight the coronavirus. “
Consumption of alcohol is banned in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is mandatory for manufacturers of methanol to add artificial colour to their products for public convenience. Bootleggers, however, add bleach to these products such that it dilutes the artificial colour. Due to a growing demand for alcohol, bootleggers often sell methanol to its customers instead of ethanol. This explains the steep rise in cases of methanol poisoning.
“The virus is spreading and people are just dying off, and I think they are even less aware of the fact that there are other dangers around. When they keep drinking this, there’s going to be more people poisoned”, Knut Erik Hovda, a clinical toxicologist in Oslo was quoted as saying.
Earlier this month, 44 people in Iran had died due to consumption of bootleg alcohol due to the rumours that it can cure coronavirus infection. Also, hundreds had been hospitalized after consuming the methanol in an effort to curb the disease. Seven bootleggers had been arrested in connection with the incident.
Iran has been largely affected by the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. Reportedly, 32000 people had been affected while over 2,300 lives had been lost. Owing to the massive casualties, two vast trenches of 100 metres that are now visible from space were dug at the Behesht-e Masoumeh complex in Qom. The evacuation work in Qom, a city located about 130km south of Tehran, began around February 21 but it was expanded rapidly to keep with the rising number of deaths
After exporting the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus to the world, China has now been caught dumping faulty Corona testing kits to various countries, which are now responsible for delivering misleading results during the tests, reports Middleeast Eye.
Reportedly, the Turkish government has now discarded Chinese-made coronavirus rapid testing kits after finding out that they gave inaccurate results.
“We have received some samples from the company,” a Turkish official said to Middleeast Eye. “We didn’t find them viable and ordered some other testing kit models from a separate Chinese company,” he added.
The Turkish official, however, did not reveal the exact numbers of the faulty kits but noted that they had not yet been used with the wider public.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca confirmed later on Friday that Turkey had tried some rapid antigen tests arrived from China, but authorities “weren’t happy about them.” “We didn’t release them for public use,” the minister informed.
The decision by Turkey to discard Chinese faulty kits comes after Spain had taken a similar measure to withdraw at least 9,000 Chinese-made kits after realising that they had only 30 per cent accuracy.
Spain, which is one of the worst-hit countries across the globe by the Wuhan Coronavirus with the total number of deaths surpassing 4000, had bought 5.5 million rapid test kits from China recently, which turned out to be faulty.
Similar results have emerged from the Czech Republic. It was reported that as much as 80 per cent of the 150,000 portable Wuhan Covid-19 rapid test kits “donated” by China were faulty, forcing healthcare workers in the country to rely on conventional laboratory tests. While China tried to give the impression that it had ‘donated’ the test kits, in reality, it was bought and paid for by the Czech government. Czech health ministry reportedly paid about USD 568,000 for 100,000 of the kits while the country’s interior ministry paid for the rest.
A 38-year-old man allegedly committed suicide at Thavanur near Kunnamkulam, Kerala on Friday after he failed to get liquor during the countrywide lockdown.
According to the reports, the deceased has been identified as Sanoj, a native of Thuvanoor in Kunnamkulam. The relatives of the deceased said that he was upset for the past two days following the non-availability of alcohol.
Sanoj, who worked as a painting worker was found hanging in his room in his house on Friday morning.
According to Kunnamkulam CI Suresh KG, Sanoj had turned violent on Thursday night as he could not get alcohol. A case has been registered and the post mortem will be conducted, he added.
Earlier, the state govt has listed all beverages as essential items, which meant alcohol was exempted from lockdown announced by the state govt on 23rd March and they were permitted to be sold at state-run Bevco outlets with restrictions. But later the Kerala govt decided to shut all liquor stores and bars in the state after the nationwide lockdown was declared by the prime minister.
The lockdown of Bevco outlets and bars could trigger withdrawal symptoms among alcohol addicts in Kerala, which has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the country. According to Kerala Excise department, nearly 30 per cent of the male population in the state are habituated to alcohol and the sudden stoppage of drinking may lead to a spike in social issues and domestic violence.
To deal with this dangerous situation, the Kerala government has decided to offer help to people who might go bonkers in the absence of liquor. “We expect such cases. So, we have opened more de-addiction centres in the state. It is a big social issue,” AC Moideen, the state minister who belongs to Thrissur, said.
The Liquor outlets in the southern states have been closed till April 14 as part of the 21-day lockdown across the country put in place to ensure social distancing to check the coronavirus pandemic.
Kerala is one of the worst-affected states due to the Chinese COVID-19 outbreak in the country. The state was already in a lockdown state when on Tuesday evening, the central government announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown beginning midnight.
More than 78,560 persons are under surveillance in the state in the view of suspected exposure to novel Coronavirus. Thirty-nine more persons in Kerala were tested COVID-19 positive in Kerala on Friday alone taking the total number of Chinese virus active patients now to 176 in the state.
On Thursday, a Congress party leader from Idukki district in Kerala tested positive for the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus. He has now been admitted to an isolation ward at the Thodupuzha District Hospital. Reportedly, he came in contact with at least 3 MLAs and a Cabinet Minister during his tour of the South Indian State.
260 people have been quarantined and 2 have been isolated, following the new development. He has now been labelled as “potential super spreader” by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, because he jumped quarantine and kept visiting various places and meeting people, potentially infecting many of them.
#Breaking | Kerala Cong leader has been accused of being ‘super spreader’ who had jumped quarantine & met 3 MLAs, cabinet minister & attended prayers, protest & even assembly. 260 now quarantined, 2 isolated.
The Congress politician had visited several places including Palakkad, Sholayur, Marayur, Munnar, Aluva, Perumbavoor, Mavelikkara, and Thiruvananthapuram, besides the state secretariat building. He had also attended a public prayer in a mosque in Cheruthony on March 13 and 22. Besides, he attended a committee meeting at the party office in Thodupuzha on March 14. Meanwhile, he had also taken part in a protest.
The Congress leader had developed a fever on March 13 but was allowed to go home, after he denied being in contact with anyone infected with Covid-19 or recent travel history to foreign countries. When his fever did not subside, the Kerala Congress politician was instructed to go under quarantine.
This has now sparked a state of panic amongst the elite political circles of the State. Idukki Collector, H Dhineshan, has therefore now directed people who have come in contact with the politician to self-quarantine at their homes.
Scare in political sphere in #Kerala. The route map of @INCIndia Idukki leader, who was tested +ve for #ChineseVirus19 , reveals that he traveled accross the state and met prominentpolitical leaders including state Ministers.Following this @Oommen_Chandy gone into self quarantine pic.twitter.com/4D8v02YBCS
Earlier, singer Kanika Kapoor became the first Bollywood celebrity to test positive for COVID-19. As per reports, she allegedly tried to hide her travel history, had defied self-isolation protocols and even evaded screening. Kapoor also stayed at a 5-star hotel in Lucknow and threw a dinner party.
Earlier, BJP MP Dushyant Singh, who attended Kanika Kapoor’s dinner party along with his mother Vasundhara Raje had been tested negative in the first sampling taken to test for coronavirus infection. Singh and Vasundhara Raje, the former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, self quarantined themselves when the news of Kanika Kapoor being isolated due to infection by the novel coronavirus came out.
At a time when the entire country is united to fight the Chinese epidemic COVID-19, a section of ‘liberal-secular’ media is trying to create fear-mongering in the society by indulging in a blatant disinformation campaign.
In an attempt to create panic in the society amidst the Wuhan Coronavirus scare, the ultra-left wing website – The Quint, notoriously known for spreading false information time and again, has yet again caught peddling fake news. This time, the Quint not only misled people by twisting an ‘opinion’ of an individual to claim that the country was in the middle in the cycle of Community transmission of Coronavirus, but also called him a doctor despite him being an engineer.
On Thursday, the Quint published an interview with Dr Girdhar Gyani. The website claimed that he was the convenor of the task Force for COVID-19 hospitals and stated that he had attended a meeting of prominent doctors and healthcare providers chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, 24 March.
In the interview, the Quint strangely introduced Gyani as a ‘doctor’, who according to the left-wing news website, stated that the country was already in the middle of stage-3 community transmission.
Through this interview, the Quint indulged in attacking the government by claiming that it was still following the old stringent policy when it comes to conducting coronavirus tests. The left-wing news website also claimed that the alleged ‘doctor’ had stated to them that the country was already under stage-3 of the transmission and the Modi government was not making it official.
However, Gyani speaking to ANI has outrightly rejected making any such claims and stated that the Quint through such headline has blown his statements out of proportion.
Gyani has clarified that he, in fact, stated, “luckily till today increase in the number of cases is pure arithmetic while in the community spread its goes geometrically or exponentially”, which the Quint twisted his statements to propagate as if India was in the middle of community transmission.
ANI’s health reporter @journo_priyanka reached out to Dr Girdhar Gyani who says this headline was blown out of proportion. Dr Girdhar clarified, “luckily till today increase in No. of cases is pure arithmetic while in community spread its goes geometrically or exponentially” https://t.co/bDkRbvnmGP
It is pertinent to note that Dr Girdhar Gyani is not even a ‘doctor’ as claimed by ‘journalist’ Poonam Agarwal of the Quint. In reality, Dr Girdhar Gyani is a Quality Engineer who later obtained a PhD degree. He is neither a medical practitioner nor an epidemiologist. Dr Gyani is the Director-General of the Association of Healthcare Providers (India) – AHPI.
According to AHPI website, which Gyani represents, the organisation represents the majority of healthcare providers in India. It works as “not for profit” organization and advocates with the government, regulatory bodies and other stakeholders on issues, which “have a bearing on enabling its members’ organizations to deliver appropriate healthcare services to the community at large”.
Hence, the AHPI is neither an expert body on healthcare nor have any experience in dealing with health emergencies such as a virus outbreak.
Further, the AHPI also clarified that Dr Gyani had never stated to The Quint that India was already in the middle of community transmission. In a tweet, AHPI clarified that Gyani had, in fact, categorically stated that India was not in stage-3 but it would be better if the government of India had made all the necessary preparations as if we were in the stage-3 of the transmission.
Misleading article from The Quint on COVID-19 referring Dr Girdhar Gyani,DG.AHPI -Interview Dated 27.3.2020#TheQuintpic.twitter.com/BOPkylLfwO
— Association of Healthcare Providers (India) – AHPI (@ahpi_india) March 27, 2020
The most shocking act of misinformation peddled by the Quint was to state that Gyani was part of the meeting of prominent doctors and healthcare providers chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, 24 March. According to the Quint, Gyani was in the capacity of convenor of the task force on COVID-19 private hospitals created in response to an initiative by NITI Aayog.
The Quint report.
However, the claim made by the Quint is out-an-out fake news as Dr Gyani was not part of any such meeting with Prime Minister Modi to discuss the coronavirus outbreak as a convenor of task force. Quint mentions ‘Task Force for Covid-19 Hospitals’, but there is no mention of any such task force in any government website. ICMR has formed a task force for Covid-19, but that is a high-level committee of Health Experts, not ‘Covid-19 Hospitals’.
According to the official document released by the Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which has formed the high-level committee of doctors and health experts, in association with NITI Aayog, there is no reference to Dr Gyani being part of the expert group.
The official document released by ICMR on 18 March
According to press releases published by the press information bureau, prime minister Modi interacted with the medical fraternity, which included doctors, nurses and lab technicians, on 24th March, therefore Dr Gyani can’t be part of this meeting. There no mention of any meeting with ‘Task Force for Covid-19 Hospitals’ on 24th March.
From the above, it can be categorically stated that Dr Giridhar Gyani is not part of the Covid-19 task force, and there is no evidence that he was invited to a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi to discuss the prevailing health crisis in the country.
However, the Quint, which has a habit of peddling outright lies has yet again caught pants down by openly peddling misinformation to create panic in the society at a time when there is already enough fear among the public following the outbreak of the Chinese coronavirus in the country.
An Italian man, aged 101, identified as Mr P has successfully recovered after being diagnosed with the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus in the city of Rimini in Italy. He was admitted to a hospital, Ospedale Infermi di Rimini, a week ago, after he tested positive for COVID-19. The Italian man was born in 1918, during the outbreak of the deadly Spanish Flu that lasted till 1920. The death toll of the Spanish Flu is estimated to be anywhere between 17 million and 50 million.
A 101-year-old man who tested positive for coronavirus has been released from hospital in Italy — “a hope for the future of all of us” https://t.co/mvMO5rBI2O
“Everyone saw hope for the future of all of us in the recovery of a person more than 100 years old. Every day we see the sad stories from these weeks that mechanically tell about a virus that rages and is especially aggressive on the elderly. But he survived. His family brought him home last night (Wednesday), leaving behind a lesson that even at the age of 101, the future is not set”, Vice-Mayor of Rimini Gloria Lisi was quoted as saying.
Italy which reported 9K deaths and 86.5K cases of infection have been one of the worst-hit countries by the Coronavirus pandemic. The 101-year-old man is believed to be the oldest person on Earth to have recovered from the Wuhan virus.
Yesterday, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a grim announcement that he had tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus. The Prime Minister claimed that he is in self-isolation in Downing street with mild symptoms for the disease. Johnson’s confirmation on contracting the deadly contagion came weeks after his admission that he met coronavirus patients and shook hands with them at a hospital.
In addition to Boris Johnson, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock also tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus. He uploaded a video on Twitter confirming of contracting the virus and exhibiting mild symptoms of the contagion.
As India went under complete lockdown for 21-days in order to fight the spread of the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus, Doordarshan decided to keep the country entertained by telecasting the two great epics of Hindu civilisation, Mahabharat and Ramayan. Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana was a 1987 television series that dramatised the great epic and was a massive hit at the time. Similarly, BR Chopra’s Mahabharat, a television series from 1988 was also considered one of the benchmarks in Indian television. The hugely popular TV series made a comeback on Doordarshan and the first episode of Ramayana was telecast today at 9 AM.
As the first episode of Ramayan went live, Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana on Doordarshan become the top search on Google in India with several people presumably either trying to find out what time the series would begin or trying to find an online link to watch the show.
Google top search
Not only did Ramayan on Doordarshan become the top search on Google, the Doordarshan website where one could watch the channel live online crashed due to high traffiic.
Even on Social networking site Twitter, four trends in the top 10 trends pertained to Ramayan, Ramanand Sagar, Lord Ram and Doordarshan.
Twitter trends
Twitter Trends
Growing up in the 80s and the 90s, one of the fondest memories is of watching the B R Chopra’s Mahabharat and Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan on Doordarshan. The roads would go empty as the nation saw Arun Govil as Lord Ram and Nitish Bharadwaj as Lord Krishna. Now that the streets have gone empty again, thanks to the Chinese Wuhan Coronavirus, even in the age of Netflix and Amazon Prime, Ramayan and Mahabharat still capture the country’s interest.
One episode of the Hindu epic Ramayan will air in the morning between 9 am to 10 am while Mahabharat will be aired at 12 noon.
Taking a strong note on the possibility of China unleashing the biological weapon of Wuhan COVID-19, the Indian government on Friday demanded the strict compliance of a global treaty banning the production of the entire range of biological weapons of mass destructions. India also highlighted the need for an effective response to the challenges posed by new scientific developments in the area.
The significant statement by the Indian government comes at a time when the Chinese coronavirus has caused a health emergency across the world. This is the first time that India has tacitly insinuated that China may have used a bio-weapon against other countries.
In making the fresh call to ban biological weapons on the occasion of 45th anniversary of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) coming into force, India made mention of the fast-spreading coronavirus and its global impact.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs, without elaborating, said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the need for international cooperation, including institutional strengthening of the World Health Organisation.
It said India has been working with other member countries of the Convention to establish a database which can play an important role in dealing with bio-threats and bio-emergencies.
“India strongly believes that the BWC must respond effectively to the challenges posed by the new and emerging scientific and technological developments of relevance to the Convention,” the MEA said.
It said India has been submitting an annual resolution at the UN General Assembly on the “Role of science and technology in the context of international security and disarmament”, which has been adopted by consensus.
While reiterating the “high importance” that New Delhi attached to the bioweapon accord, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated, “The global economic and social implications of the COVID-19 pandemic have underlined the need for international cooperation, including institutional strengthening of the World Health Organisation.”
Part of the MEA release read (emphases added):
“India strongly believes that the BWC must respond effectively to the challenges posed by the new and emerging scientific and technological developments of relevance to the Convention. India has been submitting an annual Resolution at the UN General Assembly on the “Role of science and technology in the context of international security and disarmament”, which has been adopted by consensus.
The global economic and social implications of the pandemic, caused by Covid-19, have underlined the need for international cooperation, including institutional strengthening of the WHO.
In addition, they have highlighted the need for strengthening cooperation amongst the States Parties to the BWC aimed at full and effective implementation of the Convention in all its aspects. India has been working with fellow States Parties to establish an Article VII database which can play an important role in dealing with bio-threats and bio- emergencies.
India has also been highlighting the dangers from the possible use, in future, of microorganisms as biological weapons by terrorists through its annual Resolution at the UN General Assembly, titled “Measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring the weapons of mass destruction”, which has been adopted, annually since 2002, by consensus“.
The Biological Weapons Convention came into effect in 1975 and 183 countries are parties to it. The convention calls for prohibition to development, production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons. The BWC was the first multilateral treaty banning the production of the entire range of biological and chemical weapons.
“In addition, they have highlighted the need for strengthening cooperation amongst the States Parties to the BWC aimed at full and effective implementation of the Convention in all its aspects,” the MEA said.
Pointing out that India has been “highlighting the dangers from the possible use, in future, of microorganisms as biological weapons by terrorists”, MEA said that it “takes this opportunity to call upon all States Parties to the BWC to recommit themselves to full and effective implementation of the convention and full compliance with it, in letter and spirit.”
“India reaffirms its unwavering commitment to continue to work together with fellow States Parties towards strengthening the Convention in all its aspects,” it added.
Ahead of the ninth Review Conference of the Convention in 2021, India reiterated its call for putting in place a comprehensive and legally binding protocol having a non-discriminatory verification mechanism to strengthen norms to deal with biological weapons.
Interestingly, India’s reference on Chinese virus in BWC came after both the United States and Russia raised COVID-19 on the 45th anniversary of the biological weapons convention.
The coronavirus pandemic, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has killed over 21,000 people and infected close to 500,000 in nearly 150 countries.
